


When Ice Burns and Fire Melts

by Katsuma



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/F, Military Training, Post-Canon, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-10-31 21:08:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17856986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katsuma/pseuds/Katsuma
Summary: In which the Ice Queen doesn't know how to hold back and no one wants to be her sparring partner anymore. That is, until a certain blonde sniper shows up.





	When Ice Burns and Fire Melts

**Author's Note:**

> I am currently re-watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood with my girlfriend and that made me realize once again how much of a big lesbian Olivier is, so I felt like writing about her and her secret crush. This fic contains no spoilers except for future military ranks if you haven't watched/read the whole thing yet. I hope you like it! Feedback is very much appreciated.

Major General Olivier Mira Armstrong, the highest-ranked woman of Amestris’ military and the Ice Queen of Fort Briggs. Her presence alone is enough to make everyone stop dead in their tracks.  When Olivier speaks, you _listen_. It’s like the whole world is brought to a halt for a moment, and she’s the only thing you can pay attention to because no, you wouldn’t _dare_ turn away from her.

Olivier has no time for bullshit. Born a leader, she is constantly looking for ways to become stronger. It doesn’t matter what it is or where it came from, be it some new kind of technology or a person, if she thinks it’s worth using, she will. Despite her cold-blooded nature and the fact that she can be absolutely ruthless at times, Olivier actually cares deeply about her subordinates. As much as she hates Roy Mustang, an aspiring Fuehrer and her long-time rival, she agrees with his “chain of protection” philosophy – a superior must protect his subordinates, who, in turn, will protect their subordinates, and so son. Olivier bears the weight of thousands of lives that rest upon her shoulders, and which she carries with pride.

That being said, it is not something that she lets show. At her castle, survival of the fittest is the rule. Although the soldiers of the Briggs Fortress are said to be the toughest of the Amestrian military, they lack the offensive power of the Eastern Army, which consists of Ishval Civil War veterans. Twice a year, Olivier arranges joint practices with them. Those include all sorts of training, from rescue missions to battles of strategy and one-on-one combat. All soldiers are treated the same with no gender distinctions.

Now, the Eastern Army may have kicked their butts quite a few times in the past, but when it came down to Olivier alone… Well, she knew no defeat. The Ice Queen didn’t know how to hold back, so after several joint practices over the years, people stopped volunteering to be her sparring partner. No one had the guts to tell her to go easy on them, but they also needed to come back in one piece after practice. It was complicated.

Annoyed and bored to death, Olivier considered not joining their practice sessions anymore. It was no fun if she couldn’t even break a sweat. Although Amestris enjoyed internal peace, that was never the case in foreign affairs. It didn’t matter if there was a war or not, borders would stay dangerous and require protection, and she didn’t want to get rusty. However, as Olivier got ready to leave, she saw a familiar, blonde figure approaching her. _Hawkeye_.

“Major General Armstrong,” Lieutenant Hawkeye spoke. “Long time no see.”

“Lieutenant Hawkeye,” a faint smile could be seen on Olivier’s face as she extended her hand for a proper greeting. “Indeed, it’s been a while.”

Riza squeezed Olivier’s hand as she continued, “How come you’re here without Mr. Small Balls?” The sniper muffled a laugh. Olivier was surprisingly good at giving stupid nicknames to General Mustang, and the fact that she didn’t even bat an eye whenever those words left her lips made it all the more amusing.

“General Mustang is here, however he won’t be joining practice as of today. He is, as always, buried in paperwork.” Olivier rolled her eyes. She was more than happy to spend some time with Lt. Hawkeye without having to deal with him, but it pissed her off that a Fuehrer candidate couldn’t even take care of his paperwork properly.  

“I see. I guess some things never change.” Riza nodded and they both sighed.

A comfortable silence followed afterwards while Riza decided to take a look around. Despite being a capable fighter, she didn’t join sparring sessions often since she preferred training with guns. The sniper couldn’t help but notice that everyone had a partner except for Olivier, though.

“Major General Armstrong,” Riza brought Olivier’s attention back to her. “You used to enjoy these sparring sessions. May I ask why you’re not training right now?” Riza was polite, but also curious and bold.

“Oh, that,” Olivier began, “I couldn’t find a partner”.

Riza thought that was weird. Fighting against Major General Armstrong should be a great opportunity to get better and yet people weren’t volunteering to take her on. She could kind of guess why – the other soldiers were scared – but still. Lieutenant Hawkeye didn’t like cowards.

“Is that so?” Riza replied, pondering, as an idea formed in her head. “Then… Would you like to spar against me?”

Olivier was caught off guard by Riza’s suggestion. Fighting against the skilled and famous Hawkeye was something that the Ice Queen had always wanted to try, but never really brought it up since the two of them had very different fighting styles. Olivier was a swordswoman, specialized in close combat, and Riza was primarily a sniper, which is why it didn’t seem like a fair fight.

While the Ice Queen hesitated for a moment – which was totally unlike her –, Riza interrupted her train of thought.

“I’ll have you know, ma’am,” she began, “that Riza Hawkeye isn’t all about guns. I am very much capable of taking you on in a hand-to-hand fight.” She smirked. “You’re not scared, are you?”

Riza knew she couldn’t beat Olivier. She probably never will. But she had to ignite that fire inside of her opponent in order to get her to accept her challenge. It may have been an act of kindness at first, but Riza was actually curious to find out how well she could do against the relentless Ice Queen.

“Lieutenant Hawkeye,” Olivier’s facial expression quickly changed as well as the tone of her voice.  “You’re going to regret saying that.”

Yup, the malicious smile that formed on Olivier’s lips after that was scary as fuck. She was wrong, though – Riza didn’t regret it at all, although her body could have used one or two breaks in between her straight losses since two hours of sparring against that monster of a woman left everything hurting like hell.

“Enough, Major General Armstrong,” Riza exclaimed in between gasps as her back collided against the harsh and cold floor. “I don’t think I’ll be able to get up after this one.” She couldn’t even laugh at her pitiful state since that would make her sides hurt, too.

Olivier laughed out loud. The Ice Queen was dripping with sweat, and although she wouldn’t admit being tired even after those two long hours, she knew she had given it her all, and it felt _so_ liberating. She was thankful to Riza for giving her that opportunity to de-stress.

“Here, take my hand, Lt. Hawkeye. I’ll help you,” Olivier offered her a hand.

“Riza is fine,” the sniper replied as she gladly accepted the gesture.

“All right, Riza,” Olivier continued, “I shall let you call me Olivier then.”

Riza hesitated for a moment. Calling a higher-ranked officer by their first name was a very bold move and it felt weird since she didn’t even call General Mustang by his first name. That being said, it’s not like she could defy the Ice Queen’s authority, so she complied. “Okay,” she smiled, “can you please help me get to the locker room then, Olivier?”

“Of course.” Olivier quickly swept Riza off her feet and carried her in bridal style to the women’s locker room. That wasn’t what the sniper was expecting – she could walk on her own, all she wanted was some support – but then again, she didn’t complain. After all, there was something even better than the nice and cold shower she was craving waiting for her in that room.


End file.
